First-Year Courses in CAAS This page was created at 6:46 PM on Mon, Jan 21, 2002. Winter Academic Term, 2002 (January 7 - April 26) Open courses in CAAS (*Not real-time Information. Review the "Data current as of: " statement at the bottom of hyperlinked page) Wolverine Access Subject listing for CAAS Winter Academic Term '02 Time Schedule for CAAS. CAAS 200(105). Introduction to African Studies. African Studies Section 001. Instructor(s): Yaw Twumasi (yawt@umich.edu) Prerequisites & Distribution: CAAS 111. (3). (SS). (R&E). (African Studies). Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. This course is designed to give students an overview of the historical, political, cultural, and economic developments in sub-Saharan Africa. Contemporary Africa has been characterized by analysts in all kinds of ways: as a group of new nations with a need for development; as a collection of states with colonially-created boundaries searching for viable political frameworks for development; and as a region of the world where authoritarian political and statist economic systems are giving way to a movement toward democracy and economic liberalization. This course does not seek to be comprehensive; rather, it will provide an overview on how Africa came to be characterized in these various ways, specifically focusing on the interactions of sub-Saharan African societies with outsiders, both historically and at present. The issues of race and ethnicity, discrimination and inequality, that have been and continue to be a major element of these interactions, will be examined in this course. The course will begin with an examination of myths and facts about Africa. This will be followed by an exploration of the African precolonial past, emphasizing African connections with other societies, through migration and trade as well as through the trans-Saharan and Atlantic slave trade. The effects of colonialism in Africa will then be examined, along the resulting nationalist movements and related postcolonial concerns and problems. Central among these problems and issues are: the centralization of power and transitions to more pluralist and participatory political systems; the shifts in strategies of development, population growth, and poverty; and the intersection of gender and race in African postcolonial societies. The aim in presenting a historical background at the outset is to provide a context for understanding the bases of these problems and issues. Check Times, Location, and Availability Cost: 2 Waitlist Code: No Data Given. This page was created at 6:46 PM on Mon, Jan 21, 2002. University of Michigan | College of LS&A | Student Academic Affairs | First-Year Handbook | First-Year Information | Parent Handbook | LS&A Bulletin This page maintained by LS&A Academic Information and Publications, 1228 Angell Hall Copyright © 2001 The Regents of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA +1 734 764-1817 Trademarks of the University of Michigan may not be electronically or otherwise altered or separated from this document or used for any non-University purpose.